Shinto Offerings, Osonae 御供 : Small Info
⛩️ Placement Order by @/Livingwithkami within this page towards the bottom of page in the section "Offering" all of this is a quote:
Bolder are staple offerings.
Fish, Meat, Shellfish (Living Creature - Fish must be gutted, and Meat/Shellfish must be cooked or cured, not raw, unless the shrine you acquire your Ofuda from advises otherwise)
Dried Foods, Canned Foods
*In some traditions, water is offered first place instead of rice, because it’s thought there would be no life without water.
The highest ranked is closest to Kami-sama (closest to the shrine, and center). Next is to the right, and then to the left (in odd number).
So the order would be, for example …
The reason it's positioned that way is that symmetry, and balance is very valued and important in Shinto, so you'll always see things set up like that at shrines— odd number things, it's center-right-left pattern, if even number things, they are arranged so they parallel [...] In even number, it goes from right to left, and back and forth.
⛩️ Shinto Shrine of Shusee Inari America Link
Kamidana is a miniature shrine for your home or workplace. Please display it high on a shelf on the north or west wall in your living room or workplace. This may include places such as offices, restaurants, shops, stores or dojo for kendo, judo, aikido, or karate. Please place Ofuda inside of the Kamidana and offer freshwater, uncooked rice, and salt with Shinki. Please ask us for more details. Shinki includes two Kawarake (plates for salt and uncooked rice), one Mizutama (a vessel for water), two Sakaki Tate (vase for Sakaki branches), and two Heishi or Tokkuri (sake decanter).
⛩️ Various Ways to Remove Offerings by David Chart, Discussing with Priests and Jinia Honchō. Full Post (quote for cooked food option)
The second possibility is that you should take the offerings down immediately after venerating the kamidana. These are the two possibilities that arguably do not need explicit mention: in the first case, you remove the offerings in order to replace them, and in the second, you remove the offerings when you have finished.
One of the priests at Jinja Honchō did bring this possibility up, pointing out that it was the same as the ideal practice for a matsuri at a jinja, and he suggested that it may be the best because the fundamental idea is that you should consume the offerings immediately after they have been offered to the kami.
This is what I do now, and what I recommend, for precisely that reason. It also allows you to offer cooked rice and then consume it, which is not possible if you leave the offering out for any length of time. Offering cooked rice is the older and longer tradition, so I want to make space for it, but in that case you cannot leave the offerings once you have finished your veneration.
Kamidana offering vessels for staple offerings.
"The offering vessels in a traditional Kamidana setting are: One Mizutama [水玉] or Suiki [水器](Round vessel) for Water, two Heishi or Heiji [瓶子] (Bottles) for sake, Two Hiraka [平瓦] Kawarake [皿] (Plate) for rice, and salt. We also use Sakaki-tate [榊立] (Sakaki branch holder) to offer branches of Sakaki [榊], the sacred evergreen tree in Shinto, to Kami-sama as well." — @/Livingwithkami same page linked above
Link - Shin Mei Spiritual Center, also can buy ozen tray separately.
Can also be found on eBay, Etsy, and they sometimes come with kamidana purchases.
